Wednesday, July 8, 1998 Last modified at 12:52 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8, 1998

Organizers seeking to boost 1-27 corridor plans

By JOHN FUQUAY

Avalanche-Journal

AMARILLO ? A coalition promoting the development of Interstate 27 from Denver to the Mexican border believes quick action could result in crucial federal funding for the project.

Local elected officials, as well as government and economic planners met Tuesday in the Amarillo Civic Center for the first Port to Plains Summit. Organizers may not see the billion-dollar project completed in their lifetimes, but they said the trade corridor will lead to generations of economic benefit.

The payoff won't happen until the region is better organized and lobbies politicians who direct highway funding, said ex-City Councilman Randy Neugebauer, a Lubbock businessman.

''Transportation policy in the past has been driven by the number of times a car drives over a rubber hose,'' said Neugebauer, chairman of the Lubbock Metro-politan Planning Organization. ''That perpetuates road construction in Dallas because they've got more hose hitters, and it leaves us out.''

Neugebauer said a federal law signed last month by President Clinton made the I-27 trade corridor a priority with immediate status to compete for $700 million in highways funds for corridor development in six years.

Talk of an interstate through the region began in the 1970s, and the 120-mile stretch of I-27 from Lubbock to Amarillo was completed 10 years ago.

But local funding and a report justifying the interstate's expansion were just completed last year. While Port to Plains development has already been recognized as a priority, the coalition must compete with more established interstate groups, including an Interstate 35 coalition that formed a non-profit corporation and hired a director.

The Port to Plains corridor would provide a truck route from Canada to Mexico, and then to ports with access to the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean. Interstate 25 in Denver leads to several routes into Canada or westward to Seattle's port and its access to Asia. Planners have concentrated on development south of Denver to Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Larry Combest said the existing I-27 from Lubbock to Amarillo, gives the cities an advantage in future development. But he advised leaders in area communities not to create competition within the region.

The next step is to add to the nine West Texas cities and five counties that have joined the coalition, Neugebauer said. New cities will be asked to contribute funding based on their populations. The city of Lubbock committed $120,068 and Lubbock County provided $24,016. A total $324,539 has been raised.

Planners are promoting a highway to Big Spring, San Angelo and the border at either Del Rio, Eagle Pass, or Laredo.

The region will prepare applications for a share of the $700 million for corridor development, Neugebauer said.

At the state level, Texas Department of Transportation's trunk system continues widening two-lane rural roads into four-lane highways. Some of the improvements, funded at $130 million a year, are linked to corridor roadways that may become part of I-27 in years to come.

''We need to relax the idea of an interstate,'' Neugebauer said. ''As we continue to upgrade through the trunk system, we can go back later and see if we can get congressional or federal designation as an interstate.''

Selling an interstate is crucial to marketing economic development, speakers said. Business leaders consider transportation a key factor in expanding or relocating, and an interstate is seen as a more efficient system.

Neugebauer said the identity of a cohesive plan is vital.

''We need a vision. Why would a company build a multimillion plant in a region that really doesn't have a vision?''